Descartes is considered to be the founder of modern rationalism. This is a clear statement which, however, does not show the manner in which rationalism as such appeared in the history of science, taking into account the turmoil of the Renaissance centuries, the significance of the Reform and the birth of modern science. As a founder of a new metaphysics, Descartes, through his work, remains par excellence the case in which the scholastic and Renaissance aftermaths as well as the Reform (...) mutations are mixed in a new synthesis that will be called modernity. This study focuses on reinterpreting Cartesianism from this perspective in the vast context of modernity’s metaphysical significance – it is a hypothesis that will need to be developed not only by means of hermeneutical instruments but, especially, by means of those instruments belonging to the history of culture and anthropology. (shrink)

The aim of this study is to analyse the fundamentals of Eliade’s view of the History of Religions, with a focus on the origins of this view, in the context of the criticism against the field of study corresponding to religious studies as they have developed over the last two centuries. The first part of the study briefly evaluates religious studies as to where it falls on a spectrum ranging from scientific objectivity to ideology, while the second part aims at (...) developing the hypothesis according to which the principles of the study of religions are found in the notion of “experience,” under the determinative influence of Nae Ionescu’s lectures. (shrink)

The religious consciousness functions symbolically. As the orientation towards the sacred belongs to consciousness, human existence is constituently symbolic. For Eliade, symbolism is an immediate given of consciousness, an essential object of intelligence that belongs to human beings and can be found in any existential situation of man in cosmos. If, according to Eliade, the religious history of humanity begins with the existence of the sacred, with those infinite hierophanies which organize the world and fill it with significances, then we (...) are entitled to state the anthropological importance invested by Eliade into the religious symbolism. (shrink)

This paper attempts at giving a definition of pluralism from a Christian point of view, concerning the construction of a Christian identity of Europe. The sources of the article range from the Economic Chart and the dialogue between Habermas and cardinal Ratzinger, to the beliefs of a Lutheran bishop, to the orthodox ecclesiology of one of the New Testament and to the reconciliation between the Catholics and the Orthodox believers.

The two works this paper focuses on (Anastasios Yannopoulos, Orthodoxy and the Problems of Contemporary World and Georgios Mantzaridis, Globalization and Universality. Phantom and Truth) represent a thorough analysis of contemporary history, in which globalization is the direction and purpose of the new vision in human relations and community. The lost of the individuality of these relations is considered to be a disease which has very strong religious and anthropological effects. The common feature is the reaffirmation of community in the (...) perspective of Eastern anthropology. (shrink)

his study attempts to reveal how ideology can be a determinative exponent for a negative interpretation of religion. Ideology and its processes are such powerful inducements that even a spirit like Eliade’s (or Heidegger’s, Sartre’s, Cioran’s, and Noica’s, in the 20th century) couldn’t resist them. This text also reveals, in its connotation, that an impersonal interpretation is preferred for one who is defined by political or, generally speaking, ideological motives.

This text is meant to bring to the fore the connection between politics and religion, as it was reflected in theory that Alexis de Tocqueville dealt to in his book entitled „De la démocratie en Amérique”. In the same time, it takes into consideration the well-known meeting between J. Habermas and J. Ratzinger (2004, January), which was carried out at the Catholic Academy in München. Here, a debate regarding the pre-political moral foundations of the state took place. The interest in (...) such a topic has streamed from what some people consider to be the „dogmatic-religious policy” concerning social philosophy, which the Bush Administration put into practice. (shrink)

Sex is the greatest magic force of nature. Its actions prefigure the mystery of the One. Plato and Orwell are two cases in which ideology distorts the sense of sexuality. Two thinkers of the XXth cen- tury, Julius Evola and Michel Foucault, represent two different perspectives for a philosophy of sexuality – a metaphysics and a history of con- science, but the ideology must be sought where we see too much freedom or no freedom at all. And for that, we (...) have two moments: Woodstock (1969) and Communism. (shrink)

This book is a rediscovery and examination of the thinking of Vasile Băncilă, a philosopher forbidden by the totalitarian regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu. The philosopher Lucian Blaga saw Băncilă as a threat to the spirit of the highest Romanian culture. It is estimated that Băncilă's work extends to 32 volumes, 17 of which have been published so far. With such a significant opus, Vasile Băncilă is, indisputably, a key figure in contemporary Romanian culture, particularly in the sphere of philosophy. The (...) book has eleven chapters and is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the hermeneutics of the author's youthful works. His reflections on the purpose of philosophy for life are important, about the role of this discipline in the education of adolescents and students, the relationship between irony and education, his thoughts of one of the greatest Romanian poets, Mihai Eminescu, and the philosophy of Descartes and of Schopenhauer. In the second part, the book looks at Băncilă's aim of structuring a possible system of philosophy; more precisely, an ethnic-spiritualist metaphysics which, when it was elaborated, contradicted the official ideology of the totalitarian regime. Finally, the book covers the philosopher's work, analysing step-by-step the relation between the part and the whole (pars pro toto), as well as between existence and metaphysics, and the philosopher's conclusions about Romanian existence. (shrink)

Since its inception philosophical thought has been fixated by death. Death, as much as life, has been the unrelenting driving force behind some of history’s greatest thinkers. Yet, for Emil Cioran, a Romanian-French philosopher, even philosophy cannot attempt to understand nor contain the inevitable unknown. Considered to be an anti-philosopher, Cioran approached and reflected on the human experience with a despairing pessimism. His works are characterised by a brooding, fatalistic temperament that reveals and defines itself in his irony, black humour (...) and inimitable style. Although Cioran’s later works have received much scholarly recognition, little attention has been paid to the texts he wrote in his adolescent. Grounded in the historical context of interwar Romania, this book presents for the first time an analysis of the little-known works of this pioneering Romanian thinker. Deeply affected by his upbringing, this book offers a glimpse into Cioran’s first attempts to delve into philosophical enterprise, before turning its attention to his later works, On the Heights of Despair (1934), The Transfiguration of Romania (1936) and Twilight of thoughts (1940; written in France). Using both the French and Romanian editions of these works, but also their original manuscripts, this volume seeks to provide a re-reading that takes language rather than a social or political critique as its focal point. As an important and provocative contribution to the existing literature on Cioran, this book will be an essential point of reference for students and researchers, alike. (shrink)

V.S. Ramachandran and William Hirstein's thought-provoking article ‘The science of art: a neurological theory of aesthetic experience’ and the accompanying commentaries raise serious questions about what a science of art is. Unfortunately this short piece will only be able to address them broadly. Overall the problems arise from the exclusion of neurological studies of artists, the exclusion of the artist's experience, and the premises of the theory, which are based on problematic valuations related to aesthetics and spirituality. With these valuations, (...) for which there is no scientific proof, the model is unable to sufficiently address the scope of what artists do and what art forms are. While it is my view that the Ramachandran and Hirstein theory is fundamentally flawed, it is likely the flaws are due to implicit assumptions rather than explicit intentions. (shrink)

The paper analyses the method of Franz Brentano’s descriptive psychology and argues that this method can be considered as a preparatory form of Husserl’s phenomenological method. It analyses the following methodological stages: experiencing, noticing, fixing, inductive generalization and making deductive use. The paper asserts that noticing constitues the main methodical stage for Brentano, arguing that it represents a cognitive process which clarifies the particular components of a confused complex of consciousness by separating and differentiating its parts.

In this paper, we present two proofs of the reciprocal butterfly theorem. The statement of the butterfly theorem is: Let us consider a chord PQ of midpoint M in the circle Ω(O). Through M, two other chords AB and CD are drawn, such that A and C are on the same side of PQ. We denote by X and U the intersection of AD respectively CB with PQ. Consequently, XM = YM. For the proof of this theorem, see [1]. The (...) reciprocal of the butterfly theorem has the following statement: In the circle Ω(O), let us consider the chords PQ, AB and CD which are concurrent in the point M≠O, such as the points A and C are on the same side of the line PQ. Let X and Y respectively be the intersections of the chord PQ with AD and BC respectively. If XM = YM, then M is the middle of the chord PQ. (shrink)

Das Buch betrachtet Brentanos Psychologie vom empirischen Standpunkt als eine methodologische Schrift, die einen wichtigen Beitrag zur positiven Philosophie des 19. Jahrhunderts leistet und gegenüber seiner Deskriptiven Psychologie ein selbstständiges Projekt ausmacht. Es untersucht auch Themen Brentanos, die für die Phänomenologie Heideggers und Husserls relevant sind: das veritative Seiende, die Phantasievorstellung und die Intentionalität.

In this commentary, I will argue that the componential and emergent views of cognitive control as defined by Cooper (2010) do not necessarily oppose each other, and I will try to make a case for their interdependence. First, I will use the construct of cognitive inhibition—one of the main componential control functions mentioned in the target articles—to illustrate my line of reasoning. Then, I will comment on how some of the target articles, each from a different perspective, bring arguments in (...) favor of this integrative view. (shrink)

MĂDĂLINA DIACONU, Tasten, Riechen, Schmecken. Eine Ästhetik der anästhesierten Sinne, 2005 ; SILVIA STOLLER, VERONICA VASTERLING,LINDA FISHER, Feministische Phänomenologie und Hermeneutik, 2005 ; KARL SCHUHMANN, Karl Schuhmann: Selected Papers on Phenomenology. Edited by CEES LEIJENHORST and PIET STEENBAKKERS, 2004 ; HIROSHI GOTO, Der Begriff der Person in der PhänomenologieHusserls. Ein Interpretationsversuch der Husserlschen Phänomenologie als Ethik im Hinblick auf den Begriff der Habitualität, 2004 ; GÜNTER FIGAL, Lebensverstricktheit und Abstandsnahme. „Verhalten zu sich“ im Anschluss an Heidegger, Kierkegaard und Hegel, 2001 (...) ; JACQUES DERRIDA, Le toucher, Jean-Luc Nancy, 2000. (shrink)

The present study aims to carry out an analysis of the relation between the Bibles of Samuil Micu and Andrei Șaguna from an isagogic perspective, with a particular focus on the canon and canonicity of the books of the Holy Scripture. We believe that, through such an analysis, we can observe what they have in common, but also what differentiates the two Transylvanian editions of the Holy Scripture so that we can help those interested in understanding the reasons behind the (...) current controversies as to the relation between them. Although these controversies refer to the biblical text of the two Scriptural editions, the fact that the attitude towards it was caused by denominational factors, whose doctrinal background is represented by two different traditions of understanding the biblical canon, has been overlooked. This is why we find that the evaluation of how the two Romanian editions of the Holy Scripture (the Bible of Samuil Micu, 1795, and the Bible of Andrei Șaguna, 1856-1858) relate to the canonical tradition of each Church and cultivate their isagogics is fundamental for the establishment and understanding of the relation between them. (shrink)

The identification of two Mycenaean terracotta centaurs from the excavations at Ras Shamra-Ugarit suggests a Bronze Age origin for the centaurs known from the historic periods of Greece. The Mycenaean centaurs from Ras Shamra-Ugarit are compared to the later examples from the Greek mainland. No continuous artistic tradition can be identified among the preserved examples. Since writing ceased to be used in Greece in the Iron Age and no artistic trend connecting the different representations of centaurs can be seen, it (...) is suggested here that the concept of centaurs was transmitted by way of the oral tradition. (shrink)